Live Blog: Reflection, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. September 16-September 26.

[calicakes]

Well we ended up OV for lunch. I know we could have had lunch at Luminae, however,  I was wearing a sun dress and did not know if that was acceptable. We're at the pool now.

[terrydtx]

On 9/7/2022 at 5:22 PM, calicakes said:

What are your thoughts on bringing back some Olive Oil from Italy( Rome or Florence or Capri?) 

 

I cook nightly and I love quality ingredients.  I know I can buy just about anything here in Los Angeles, so do I even bother with schlepping EVOO home?   I prefer to buy consumables rather than souvenir type things.    We're also planning a cross country move next year. 

Congratulations on your retirement and Anniversary, you will love this cruise. My wife and I did the same itinerary on the Reflection last month in a Sky Suite. We spent 37 days in Italy and Greece on two cruises and 12 land days. Since we were going to spend 3 days in Florence after the Reflection cruise, we did a tour of a Tuscan Farmhouse and vineyard from Livorno and had a great time.  We sampled wine, olive oil and Balsamic vinegar all produced at the farm and vineyard. We purchased a bottle of 12 year old Balsamic vinegar to bring home and ordered a case of their Tuscan wines to ship to us in October when our weather is cooler. We also bought Greek spices while in our stop in Greece that we brought home. Yes if find consumables you can bring them back with you, but we found most of the places we visited have web sites that allow you to order their products have them shipped to you for very reasonable prices. A couple of the wineries we visited even have US distribution centers and will ship wines to us in Texas with no shipping charges. We love good Italian wines, olive oil and aged Balsamic Vinegar.

 

Enjoy your first cruise in the Retreat but be warned once you cruise in a Sky Suite and the Retreat you will find it very hard to go back to less. That happened to us last year on the Equinox and we now have 4 more Celebrity cruises booked in Sky Suites.

[terrydtx]

14 minutes ago, calicakes said:

Well we ended up OV for lunch. I know we could have had lunch at Luminae, however,  I was wearing a sun dress and did not know if that was acceptable. We're at the pool now.

It is a shame you didn't get to have embarkation lunch in Luminae, for lunch about the only thing not allowed clothing wise in Luminae is bathing suits and coverups. Who is your butler, we had Gerald last month he was fantastic.

[calicakes]

36 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

It is a shame you didn't get to have embarkation lunch in Luminae, for lunch about the only thing not allowed clothing wise in Luminae is bathing suits and coverups. Who is your butler, we had Gerald last month he was fantastic.

 I wasn't sure about the sundress, and I didn't want to risk the clothing police. Believe it or not we haven't met the Butler yet. All of the paperwork in our room is calling the retreat Michael's club.  I would have thought they changed the name to retreat.  I haven't seen a lot of staff walking the hallways, to be honest.

[terrydtx]

9 minutes ago, calicakes said:

 I wasn't sure about the sundress, and I didn't want to risk the clothing police. Believe it or not we haven't met the Butler yet. All of the paperwork in our room is calling the retreat Michael's club.  I would have thought they changed the name to retreat.  I haven't seen a lot of staff walking the hallways, to be honest.

The Reflection has not been Revolutionized which is where Michaels Club and the Solstice Sun Deck get changed to the Retreat Lounge and the Retreat Sun Deck.  Your Butler should have introduced him or herself to you on the first day and they do many things like bring you drinks from the bar and deliver room service breakfast on time and hot every morning. Gerald was able to book sold out shore excursions for us last minute and get reservations for the Lawn Club grill at on the day we wanted to dine there. He also brought premium bottles of Evian water to our cabin every day and bottles of red and white wine all at no extra charge. When he brought our breakfast every morning he would call us a few minutes before delivery and set up our table on the balcony and even pour our first cup of coffee. I like stronger coffee and he would add a couple of shots of expresso from Cafe Al Bacio to our morning pot. We were so spoiled by the Retreat and our Butler that going from the Reflection Sky Suite to a Signature Suite on the HAL Oosterdam was a huge let down as HAL has zero suite amenities. 

[LATTELOVE]

Yayyy, your cruise travel is here!!

So happy for you all.

Your suite looks beautiful and roomie. 

 

Bon Voyage!!

[scrapcreator]

Congratulations on your retirement, Julie. Happy anniversary and bon voyage to both of you! Have a great sailing. We enjoyed a walking food tour and plenty of gelato this past June in Rome.

 

Looking forward to your live blog as we wait to board our next cruise. Getting prepared by getting a booster and flu shot today.

[calicakes]

We've been in the room for a good hour, un packing and still no Butler.  We've met the room attendant Juliana. I asked her to please send the Butler and nothing nothing. We are going up to the sunset bar for sale away.

[LATTELOVE]

21 minutes ago, calicakes said:

We've been in the room for a good hour, un packing and still no Butler.  We've met the room attendant Juliana. I asked her to please send the Butler and nothing nothing. We are going up to the sunset bar for sale away.

Shortage of staff maybe.

Hope you get to meet him or her soon.

[Panzano]

There is usually a folder or paper with the name and phone number of your butler.  You should be able to call him/her directly.   

[calicakes]

We finally met the Butler. Her name is Eli. We went to the Sunset bar for sail away.  We had a nice dinner in Luminae.. . I had the Ginger crab cake, and black bass.. Julie had the kids filet and kids Caesar salad.  

[calicakes]

I'm posting pics from my phone. Sorry for the brevity of words. We are waiting for the game to start.

[Covepointcruiser]

Now that you have eaten in Luminae you know your sun dress would have been totally appropriate for lunch and for dinner.

[calicakes]

14 minutes ago, Covepointcruiser said:

Now that you have eaten in Luminae you know your sun dress would have been totally appropriate for lunch and for dinner.

You are correct.

[calicakes]

I like iced coffee in the morning. I ordered some hot water to make aeropress coffee in the room. I'll let it cool overnight. Julie pressed it for me.

[pickypicky]

Just now, calicakes said:

I like iced coffee in the morning. I ordered some hot water to make aeropress coffee in the room. I'll let it cool overnight. Julie pressed it for me.

Enjoying your report! I’m an iced coffee aficionado too. You probably already know this but Cafe Al Bacio makes an awesome one. Only problem is you can’t get it from room service. 

[Jim_Iain]

14 hours ago, calicakes said:

Well we ended up OV for lunch. I know we could have had lunch at Luminae, however,  I was wearing a sun dress and did not know if that was acceptable. We're at the pool now.

 

 

Just for your info.   For lunch shorts and jeans and casual wear are acceptable.    I'm sure you sun dress would look great on you and would totally be acceptable.

 

BTW -   Say hi to John Escobar (retreat) from us.   We've sailed with him numerous times.   You will enjoy getting to know him.

 

[MR_T]

Thanks for the time & effort in posting, I’ve done a few live blogs in the past and it’s nice to actually follow one when we are onboard as well 😊 

 

keep it up 👍🏼 🍹😎

[calicakes]

4 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Just for your info.   For lunch shorts and jeans and casual wear are acceptable.    I'm sure you sun dress would look great on you and would totally be acceptable.

 

BTW -   Say hi to John Escobar (retreat) from us.   We've sailed with him numerous times.   You will enjoy getting to know him.

 

He's very nice. I will relay your message.  We had a nice chat last night about the possible changes to Michael's club.

[calicakes]

I only made one request of our butler. I like bigger, slower to melt ice cubes. I brought this from home.  I asked her to please fill it up, freeze it and bring it in the morning with some half-and-half from my coffee.  She did say she couldn't do that. I asked her to please as the chef where the freezer is.  She took the tray, it was brought back this morning.   Unfortunately with the time change ahead one hour we overslept again and missed breakfast in Luminae. So bummed.  We went to OV with what seemed like the entire ship.  I had a nice conversation with an English couple who had a terrible experience at the main dining room last night. It was all service related. I had a light breakfast this morning.

[calicakes]

Well we made it to lunch just in the Nick of time. I didn't change my watch ahead one hour and I kept thinking it was 1220 when it was actually 1:20.  I had the beet salad and a small portion of the lobster bisque. For my main I had the butternut squash risotto. It tasted like macaroni and cheese. I could only eat a small amount.  I asked for half a portion of everything. Julie had a chicken dish.  I liked the chicken it was tender  For dessert we shared the macadamia white chocolate cake. I was expecting something different but this was good.

[calicakes]

The pool is very crowded as expected on a sea day. They are very short staffed with bar tenders. They are not even scanning sea pass cards, or garnishing drinks. I've only seen 2 poolside servers as well.

[terrydtx]

17 hours ago, pickypicky said:

Enjoying your report! I’m an iced coffee aficionado too. You probably already know this but Cafe Al Bacio makes an awesome one. Only problem is you can’t get it from room service. 

But your Butler will get anything from Cafe AL Bacio and bring it to you. 

[calicakes]

Afternoon cheese plate.  I don't think saltines are a proper cracker to have with the cheese plate. I pulled out some crackers I had from our flight.

[calicakes]

59 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

But your Butler will get anything from Cafe AL Bacio and bring it to you. 

Thank u. I will ask her.